678 WATCHMEN
with the January, 1947 one-shot horror comic of the same name published by Avon
Publications, which ran for 17 issues from May/June 1951. Similar to EC comics hosts
Th e Crypt Keeper or the Vault Keeper, “Uncle Creepy,” a wizened old man, and “Cousin
Eerie,” a rotund grotesque fi gure in pilgrim style attire, warned of the gruesomeness of
each tale in the Warren publications. Titles like Creepy occasionally had issues on a dif-
ferent theme, thus science fi ction stories such as Purge (which prefi gures Judge Dredd
with a similar tale of a fascist cop on a motorbike enforcing over-strict rules, in this case
owning copies of Warren titles) and Executor One (a robotic executioner with the con-
sciousness of a man) feature in issue #73 of Creepy , where six science fi ction stories are
presented as fairytales told by an old man to deformed children in a post-apocalyptic
city. Edgar Allan Poe’s Creepy Stories issue #69, February 1975, and issue #70, March
1975, featured comic strip adaptations of such Poe stories as “Th e Pit and Pendulum,”
“Th e House of Usher,” and “Th e Oval Portrait.” Th ere were also articles on how comics
were created with a section called “Everything You Always Wanted to Know... about
the Comics!” Th is feature added to an active fan culture, and the letter pages of most
Warren publications had critical and incisive letters on story and quality. Th is sense
of fandom and community was one of the hallmarks of Famous Monsters of Filmland.
Along with the hosted titles that included in-joke puns and humor, the readers pages of
the magazine featured photos of readers and fostered a community spirit of early fan-
dom. Vampirella was created by Forrest J. Ackerman and fi rst appeared as a horror story
host in Vampirella issue #1, September 1969, but was recreated as an ongoing charac-
ter in her own right in storylines that combined horror and science fi ction. Vampirella
was an updated vampire story, which although superfi cially supernatural and gothic,
has a science fi ction basis. Vampirella is an alien from the planet Draculon, where the
inhabitants lived on blood that fl owed in the planet’s rivers. After an Earth spaceship
crashes on the planet, Vampirella is sent to investigate and ends up piloting the ship
back to Earth. Her red, one-piece leather thong and black boots have almost iconic
status in certain circles. When Warren became bankrupt in 1983, Vampirella was a
notable character that was sold in auction to Harris Comics, which has made intermit-
tent attempts to resurrect the character. Hollywood exploitation veteran Jim Wynorski
helmed a direct-to-DVD fi lm version of Vampirella (1996) starring Puerto Rican Talisa
Soto in the title role, and Th e Who’s Roger Daltrey as villain Vlad. In comparison to
the much-discussed gore of EC horror comics tales, Warren’s output was characterized
more by its atmospheric black and white art and more adult, sexual themes, which was
infl uenced by the infl ux of Spanish artists.
Lorcan McGrane
WATCHMEN. One of the defi ning comics of the 1980s, and one of the benchmarks
against which intelligent and literate storytelling in comics have been judged ever since.
Written by Alan Moore , drawn by Dave Gibbons , with color by John Higgins, Watch-
men is an insightful homage to the superhero genre, as well as a deconstruction of its
clichés, forms, and infl uences. Originally published as a 12-issue series beginning in
